Since the last blog I have been at university doing my first year exams and I am also back in the hospital on placement. I do come home when I have a break in my shifts and help out with the caravan site, the new lodges and of course the sheep!

Lambing time finished in April with a good crop of lambs and all are doing well. We had 7 pet lambs, one being my particular favourite, ‘Elmer’.  Who was a born in a set of quads.  We had 2 sets of quads in one day, which for a small flock like ours is quite remarkable!

Last week we managed to get some grass cut and baled into big bales.  They are sealed in black plastic and stacked up in the yard and will be used for sheep feed in the winter months.  We use the loadall to put them in the feeder, this type of bale is more moist than hay.  The sheep often prefer to eat this rather than dry hay.  We will buy some small bales of hay later in the year, these are more maneagable for feeding outside in the covered hay feeding racks.

We have sold just over half of the lambs through our local auction at Bentham about 3 miles away.  The prices are generally higher than last year which is good.   The lambs were fed creep feed provin as there wasn't much grass earlier in the season.  Every couple of weeks we get them in the pens and weigh them in a lamb weighing crate.  We prefer to get them to 40kg+ before they are sold for meat.   This year though 'Store Lambs' which are less than 36kg are making high prices too.

Yesterday, the sheep were sheared but the price of wool is very poor.  At least the sheep are happier in this heat.